Pretrial Release For Repeat And Violent Offenders

Current law prohibits a court from releasing a person on an unsecured personal recognizance bond without consent of the district attorney or unless the court imposes certain additional individualized conditions of release if the person is presently free on another bond of any kind in another criminal action involving a felony or a class 1 misdemeanor, has a record of conviction of a class 1 misdemeanor within 2 years or a felony within 5 years, has willfully failed to appear on bond in any case involving a felony or a class 1 misdemeanor charge in the preceding 5 years (collectively, persons accused of repeat or violent offenses). The bill removes the provisions regarding district attorney consent and additional conditions of release and prohibits a court from releasing a person accused of repeat or violent offenses on any unsecured personal recognizance bond. The bill adds to persons accused of repeat or violent offenses a person who is accused of committing a crime of violence and the court finds probable cause to believe that the person has committed the offense.

Existing law requires any monetary condition of pre-trial release to be reasonable. The bill clarifies that for a person accused of repeat or violent offenses, a reasonable monetary condition is at least $7,500.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)